Have you ever wished
that you could find a family history website that would show you how
to trace your family history, step by step, and in layman's terms. Well
you have. I will help you to learn the basics, helping you to avoid many
of the pitfalls. As you learn, I will show you the most useful websites
on the internet, and thus help you to trace your family history from
the beginning to an advanced stage.
I will pre-warn you that genealogy, which is the term for family history research,
is the most addictive of pursuits. It will take over your life for long periods,
and there will be times your thoughts may be of little else. It is a most rewarding
and enlightening hobby, and will take you on a journey that will culminate
in the unfolding of your ancestral history, and help you to discover why you
are who you are.
As you move through the site you will find links that help you in your research
in countries like Australia and the United States. The first steps are so very
important though, and should be read by all.
Why bother? Here is something written by an author unknown to me that kind
of says it all:-

Why do we research
our Family History?

We
are the chosen. My feeling is that in each family there is one who
seems called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make
them live again. To tell the family story and to feel that somehow those
who went before know and approve. To me, doing genealogy is not a cold
gathering of facts but, instead, breathing life into all who have gone
before. We are the storytellers of the tribe. All tribes have one. We
have been called as if it were in our genes. Those who have gone before
cry out to us; Tell our story. So, we do.

In finding them, we
somehow find ourselves. How many graves have I
stood before now and cried? I have lost count. How many times have I
told my ancestors, "You have a wonderful family; you would be proud
of us."?
How many times have I walked up to a grave and felt somehow there was love
there for me? I cannot say.

It goes beyond just
documenting the facts. It goes to who I am, and
why I do the things I do. It goes to seeing a cemetery about to be lost
forever to weeds and indifference, and saying I can't let this happen. The
bones
here are bones of my bone and flesh of my flesh. It goes to doing
something about it. It goes to pride in what our ancestors were able to accomplish.
How they contributed to what we are today. It goes to respecting their
hardships and losses, their never giving in or giving up, their
resoluteness to go on and build a life for their family. It goes to deep pride
that
they fought to make and keep us a nation. It goes to a deep and immense
understanding that they were doing it for us, that we might be born who
we
are, that we might remember them. So we do.

With love and caring
and scribing each fact of their existence,
because we are them and they are us. I tell the story of my family. It is up
to
that one called in the next generation, to answer the call and take their
place in the long line of family storytellers. That is why I do my family
genealogy, and that is what call those, young and old, to step up and put
flesh on the bones.